Discussion

Natalie A. · Reader · edited over 6 years ago · 1 like
I’m so happy for you!! Congratulations, my love!!! :)
Debbie Gulyas · Reader · added over 6 years ago
Congratulations! Can’t wait to read the finished novel!  
WE DID IT!!!

I am so incredibly proud and excited to announce that, thanks to all of you who helped me by pre-ordering and getting the word out, I WON (as in 1st place!!!) the Inkshares Publishing Prize for my novel-in-progress "The Shift."

It feels surreal. The Inkshares page says I am already the #2 Best Seller in Science Fiction and Fantasy. There’s only one thing you can deduce here: I have THE best friends and family in the world, hands down. From Milford friends, to UConn friends, to elementary school teachers, to coworkers from my days at HBO, Fresno, my Crisis Counselor days at Rosemary Children’s Services (one of my old favorite residents even purchased a copy--I cried, whatever), I just feel like so many people from so many different times and places in my life came out to show me a little bit of love. And of course my parents, sister, future brother-in-law, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, my oldest and best friends and their families, and of course my beautiful girlfriend who was the first to pre-order, and HER family... I mean it when I say I have never felt so supported and loved in all my life, and I am lucky enough to be able to say I have actually felt supported and loved throughout the entirety of my life. But THIS takes the cake. I can only hope you all get to experience something equally touching in your lives some day, and that I have the opportunity to be a part of that somehow. Whatever it is--I am IN. So what now? Now I write a book! And when that’s done it will be available in hundreds of book stores across the country, not to mention as an e-book on Amazon and all the other major e-book retailers. This has the potential to change my life, and like I’ve been saying all along in these (probably annoyingly frequent) posts--make my childhood dream come true. I remember telling people when I was in first grade I wanted to grow up and be a baseball player AND an author. I’m pretty sure I only threw "baseball player" in there to sound cooler, which worked out just as well as my baseball skills seemed to peter out around the time everyone else caught up to me puberty-wise. No, I’m much more suited for the professional author life. So, this is it. This is what I’ve wanted all along. So thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me make this a reality. I hope I can live up to the enormous opportunity you’ve all had a direct hand in presenting me.

I am going to write the hell out of this book. I love you all. And by the way, the book is and will remain available to order on the Inkshares page--tell your friends! (Had to one last time).
So much love, Paul

Hey, everyone. So strangely, and without any announcement from Inkshares, the contest which was supposed to officially end last night has been extended a week... Yeah, I’m confused, too. This is good news for basically everyone in the competition but the guy in first place, haha. And guess who’s in first place? Thanks to all of you wonderful people, that would be me. 

It’s a good problem to have and I am so grateful. But I know my competitors probably feel new life has breathed into them, and are really going to put the push on in this final week. I don’t put it past any of these smart, creative people I am competing with to take 1st Place from me. 

And so I urge you one last time to PLEASE share my pre-order page with friends, family and strangers, and ask THEM to share. There’s not much time left and your friend of a friend of a friend could be the pre-order that cements my win! Thank you all SO MUCH again. Here’s something to cut and paste again:

"Please help Paul win this manuscript competition and achieve his lifelong dream of being a published author! Only $10, and every order gets him closer to the win! YOUR order can be the one to make his dream a reality. And if you can’t order, please share this link: https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-shift-the-stoneford-chronicles-424394"

Thank you all again. Hopefully my next update will be good news and not another inexplicable extension! Have a great week, all!

Love,
Paul

Friends and fam! I have some updates I’d like to share with you all, the people who have actually been so kind and generous enough to support me with a pre-order (or two or three or more in some cases, ha), before I share on Facebook, Instagram, etc next week. If you don’t have time to read this all, just go ahead and skip to the part that says "IMPORTANT PART" near the bottom.

I’ll start with some not great news. ’The Shift’ unfortunately did not make the cut for the Top 10 manuscripts in the Judges Competition. I won’t lie, I’m bummed. I know everybody who makes an attempt at something and doesn’t quite make it in the end always qualifies with things like "Well, I’m still proud of what I did" and "In a way, I still won..." (Just listen to any chef immediately after being eliminated on "Chopped"). And I don’t wanna do all that. 

BUUUUUTTTTT...

It IS my first attempt at a novel, ever, which is something I am proud of. And I did beat somewhere between 400 and 500 other writers, and with stiff competition from what I hear. And, additionally, WHATEVER THESE JUDGES JUST DON’T GET WHAT I’M TRYING TO DO MAN. Haha. Joking. Maybe.

All that said, I am down to only ONE SHOT at making my dream come true and getting published: and that is winning the pre-orders contest on Inkshares. The good news is I am in FIRST PLACE thanks to all of you. But there is a little over one week left, and I know the writers beneath me will REALLY put the push on to catch up.

***IMPORTANT PART***
And so I ask you all again, despite having already helped me so, so much, to please share my book’s Inkshares page. With everyone you have ever met, haha. Email people. Call up old friends. Share to your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and Tinder apps. Hell, share it on your Uber app if you can figure out how. I have exhausted my social circle with this and I hate to ask for more of you all, but this is the FINAL PUSH! The contest ends October 9th at 11:30pm PDT! 

For the laziest of you (no judgment) I’ve crafted a message you can just copy and paste to your email or social media profiles here:

"Hey, everybody! I have a small favor to ask: please consider helping Paul achieve his dream of being a published author by pre-ordering a copy of his novel at the link below. It’s only $10, and you get your money back if he doesn’t get published. I know he would appreciate it from the bottom of his heart. Thank you so much! http://bit.ly/2xQQvvs"

Thank you all SO much for your. Your support really does mean everything to me. Now, let’s win this thing! 

Much love,
Paul





Brian.Di Paola · Reader · added over 6 years ago
Well done, sir. 

Debbie Gulyas · Reader · added over 6 years ago
Congratulations! Rooting for you!

Hey, all! Wanted to share with you a couple exciting updates on "The Shift."

First, I’m officially one of the Top 25 finalists in the 2017 Launchpad Manuscript Competition! This is such a vote of confidence for me and my writing. I’m blown away that I’ve made it this far on my first ever attempt at writing a full-fledged novel. The Top 10 will be pretty stiff competition, though, and will be announced at the end of next week (I’ll be in Connecticut for a wedding then, so hopefully I get to share some happy news with the fam face to face). So cross your fingers for me! Or find some names of the judges and send them vaguely threatening messages, your call!

The good news is, even if I’m not selected by the judges to move on, I can still get my novel published by having the most pre-orders here on Inkshares. Which brings me to my second update:

I am currently #1 in pre-orders out of 75 competitors! This is entirely thanks to all of you. Words can’t describe how I felt every time I got an email saying one of you had pre-ordered, especially from so many people across so many different times and places in my life. It was truly overwhelming. So thank you, thank you, thank you for being so generous and supportive. I really felt the love, you guys. And I only hope that I get a chance to show my support to each of you one day in return. 

THAT SAID, this competition is FAR from over. You’ve already done more than enough. But if you still happen to be feeling supportive, PLEASE SHARE my Inkshares page with people you think may be interested in reading or just helping me achieve a dream! It would mean the world to me.

Thank you again! More to come soon.

-Paul

Natalie A. · Reader · added over 6 years ago
I love you! So excited to read this! :)

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